DOA: Kasumi Chronicles
by gatman007
Summary: Kasumi tells us the story of what happened through her life from the Mugen Tenshin village to the DOA tournaments. As she continues, she also explains her relationship with Hayate, her feud rivalry with Ayane, and her affections towards Ryu.


DOA: Kasumi Chronicles.

**Author's note:**

This is my first fan fiction that I've ever done and published in this site. Not completely done with it yet. I had a few months to plan this fanfiction, so inform me on how I am doing so far.

All characters are property of Tecmo and Team Ninja.

Enjoy and R&R please.

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**Chapter 1: ****Joyful Memories…**

Memories… the only thing that you have to remember about the times in your life… Some people say you should forget about the past, because some events in that lifetime must have been painful to us that the best way to get rid of them is to leave it behind. They also say that you should just move on in life whenever something you lost won't come back. Even though I had a happy yet a hurtful life, my memories keep coming back to me. Ever since I've become a runaway shinobi to my clan, I still couldn't forget about all the adventures I had with people there. People I loved. And now, it's time you should know about my life so far in this fascinating yet cruel world; from a skilled ninja member to what they now call me a traitor…

They kept calling me the "Kunoichi of Destiny." Ever since I was born, they thought I was their chosen female ninja; the one destined to lead their clan known as the Mugen Tenshin clan. At first, I didn't take this "ninjutsu fighting" style seriously because I never enjoyed fighting or hurting anyone. I only cared about living with my relatives and my friends whom I love till death. But the one that I cared about the most was that one special person that I have admired in my life, the one that was always there for me, the one I always looked up to, and the one who I would lose forever…

Hayate. That name; it keeps me wondering about the sweet, happy moments I had with him when we were little children, living as a glorious family along with my mother and my half-sister, Ayane, in our village. Every time something goes wrong, my brother would always have a plan to resolve it with no trouble at all. He was smart, brave and intellectual to practically everything in our society.

"_Big brother," I asked him one day when we were children, when we returning from the market. "What are you going to do when you grow up?"_

_H__ayate stopped walking. He turned his head to face me with those hazel eyes of his. He smiled and while putting the jug of water down he was carrying, he placed his hand on my shoulder._

"_Well, Kasumi, first of all I was thinking about joining the clan of our village, you know. Maybe I can become this clan's best leader to protect our people from danger. I've been practicing the secret of ninjutsu fighting over the past days. Someday, you and Ayane will learn it too."_

_He patted my head, gently, and brushed my smooth, red hair. Like I said before, I never wanted to become a ninja in the first place, but then I started to get interested in their fighting techniques and got so inspired that I actually wanted to be them one day. But something about becoming a member of the ninja clan had me shaking through my veins._

"_But… I__ don't know." I asked him uncomfortably. "I want to become like you too. But… what if I never learn these paths to becoming a ninja? What if I fail and never become the chosen Kunoichi the village keeps on calling me? What if…" _

_In that moment, Hayate shushed me by putting his two fingers on my lips. He always used to do that whenever I seemed in a confused manner. I liked it when he did that, since it was rude for a person to shush another by simply shouting "shut up," or "be quiet." After he took his fingers away from my mouth, he reached for his neck, untying a pendant that he had worn ever since the first time I saw him. The Japanese symbol in the small frame read HOPE. "Here," he said, placing it in my palms. "I want you to have this."_

_I looked at him. I knew the pendant meant very much to him__, because he would never leave anywhere without it. I didn't understand why he would give me this. "It was a special gift from our father to me. He said I was destined to have this," he replied. The moment I heard that, I started to wonder about our beloved father, who still didn't return from his journey. I never really knew him very much, but as far as Hayate and my mother had told me, he left for purpose reasons, which could only mean to me that he might never return. I looked down to the ground. Why would my brother hand me such a special gift from our own father?_

_As I thought this, Hayate, unexpectedly, lifted my chin up to face his eyes again. "I know. I should have told you earlier about why this pendant meant so much to me. I'm sorry." He paused for a moment. He turned to face the beautiful sunset, in which I did as well. He was silent for so long, I could not tell if he was going to say something smart or not. Sighing, my brother looked at me once more. "Because you're the one destined to become a Kunoichi," he finally said, "I wanted you to have it, for a right reason. Every time I'm not around with you, or anytime you need help in your problems, and I'm not there to guide you, just remember that you have one thing with you… hope. Believe in yourself and you can achieve on everything. And if you ever lose concentration, every time you see the pendant hanging around your neck, just think of me if I was there with you, and that way, you will never fail in hard situations. It's like having me and father inside you everywhere you go now." He smiled._

_When I heard his statement, tears ran through me, and I started to cry. I never wanted to be without Hayate in any place at all. He understood my emotions right now and started wiping my tear drops with his fingers. Then, he put his arms around me, hugging me._

"_It's okay," he replied. "You're never going to be alone. You always will have me another place as well." He pointed at my chest. I touched it where I could feel a thump. My heart, I asked myself. He will always find a place in my heart. Yes, it was true. My brother will always find himself here, no matter what he turns into, no matter what kind of person he can be, I will always love him. And in that moment, I gently passed my fingers through his chest as well. He unwrapped his arms around me grabbed my hand, tightly. I thought he didn't like the gesture, but instead placed it right in his heart, with his hand on top of mine. These tears I produced were not of gloom, but of great pleasure and joy; I was glad that I will always be by his side, forever._

"_You will always find the way, Kasumi. Just never give up."_

_That day, I never __stopped crying until midnight._

As I aged, Hayate had taught me a few tricks on how to use some ninpo attacks he learned, but decided that I should learn the techniques by experts at the temple on my own. Of course, I was not the only one that was on to training for the Mugen Tenshin Style of ninjutsu. Let us just say I had a small rivalry with someone I am partially related to.

Ayane… Whoever knew that such a unique girl like her could be me and Hayate's half sister and cousin at the same time? I don't quite remember what happened when she was born, but every time someone described Ayane about her father, almost everyone in the village mentioned her as a "poisoned child" since she came from that unknown man's generation. I sometimes felt sorry for her, and I tried my best to protect her from anyone who dared tried to pick on my half-sister.

When we practiced our ninpo and kayakujutsu explosive attacks at the training arena, our sensei would always remark that I was the best at this unit. Somehow, I would always see that purple-haired girl's face scowling at me whenever they told me that. Do not get me wrong, I thought Ayane was the one doing better than me in our ninja techniques, but it turned out that since I was the "destined one", I was the one getting more support than her. One day, I saw her crying in a nearby corner, and I thought talking to her would appease her…

"_What's wrong?" I asked her._

"_It's none of your business!__" she retorted angrily. She went back to crying again. It really didn't make sense. She wished to become a Kunoichi as well, and she was one of the best I have seen as well. Sure, I was her rival, as some people have pointed out to us, but that does not mean I'll leave her in pain like this. I wasn't just her rival, or her half-sister, but also her best friend and companion. I would not leave without her telling me what's bothering her._

"_Please," I asked again. "I want to know what's wrong. Why are you crying? Maybe I can help."_

_Ayane looked at me__. She quit sobbing, but tears continued raining to the ground. She put her palms in her eyes to prevent tear drops from coming out again. "It's not fair," she said, at last. "It's not fair that you get all the attention of everyone while I just stay here and be ignored like if I was some sort of ghost. It's as if I don't even exist for people. No one ever supports me. No one is there to give me a hand…"_

_Just as I thought. I knew something like that would offend __her. I stared at her for a moment. At some times, I really felt sort of guilty about me getting all the commotion from everyone about my destiny, and Ayane getting no one to cheer for her back. No one paid attention to her; it was almost like she never existed for anyone as she pointed out. I sat next to her and tried my best to comfort her._

"_You're wrong. There will always be someone there to support you.__" I put my hands on her shoulders. She shrugged a little. "And that person is me."_

_Ayane turned her head sideways. __"You're just saying that so I won't feel bad about myself."_

"_No, it's true. And not only me, but your whole family as well, like Hayate, mother, and… well, __the important thing is that you have at least us to support you whenever you need someone to cheer for you. You'll never be alone, little sister."_

_Ayane__ took her palms out of her eyes. She sniffed a little, but she was feeling better than before. She faced me again, and then in an instant, fell in my arms. I was stunned that she would do such a thing, because to tell you the truth, that was the first hug I have ever received from Ayane. She never had anyone to hug, excluding our brother and mother, but seriously, she has never tried to do this to me. I suddenly stopped thinking about what she did and started to pat her back._

"_Kasumi…__" Her face was laid in my chest and I could barely hear her. "Do you really mean that? Will you always be there to give me a hand?"_

_I thought about the time when I had the almost same conversation with __Hayate, about him being there for me the whole time. If he could be there for me, then I can be there with Ayane. I smiled and replied, "Yes, sister. I promise I'll look after you." She squeezed me tighter. Her strength was so powerful, I could hardly breathe. "Not so hard, now. You do not want to kill me."_

_We glanced at each other__. The blue, depressing gesture had disappeared from her face and only showed happiness by putting a smile on. We both had a good laugh about the thing I had remarked._

"_Surely, I would never do that.__"_

_I picked her up to her feet. "Come on. Let's go get something to eat." I said._

"_How about some sushi?" she recommended._

"_No__… I hate sushi."_

As years passed, Ayane and I grew up as siblings, rivals, and best friends in the village. Although our training was rough, we never gave up on ourselves or each other. No matter what happened, we stood for one another and we became very cooperative like a dynamic duo, and fought challengers using our tag team battle skills. After mastering almost all the ranks of ninjutsu and our ki in ninpo magic, Hayate decided that we should team up in order to make an invincible team of ninja warriors to protect and serve our people in the clan. It really sounded wonderful; me, my sister, my brother, together in a strong, and powerful trio. But I remember Hayate telling me that we also had an ally from another clan that could join us as well…

Ryu Hayabusa: a mysterious but yet a skilled warrior from the Hayabusa clan who has mastered all the ranks from Greater Ninja to Super Ninja. He was also a close friend to Hayate. I never heard of him, but according to what Hayate said, he had been in touch with him ever since they were little kids. He said Ryu will visit our clan one day before I turned 16. Wow, so this stranger will be here during my birthday, I guess. At least I'll get to meet my brother's best friend. I wondered if he'd ever be caring, sweet, or even an aggressive type of person when I get to meet him…

"_He's here__." My brother sensed him._

_A few days had passed and I fina__lly got the chance to introduce myself to the unknown ninja. When he arrived, I started to study him first: he had a soft yet deep voice. He had straight, brown, long hair, with a small ponytail sticking out, wore a special black suit that was equipped with 8-pointed shurikens, daggers, and a couple of small arrows. He also wielded a special kind of sword that I've never seen before._

_Hours before __midnight, Hayate had asked Ayane for assistance in the Mugen Tenshin temple. While they were away, I had stayed with the guest alone in our small home. I did not know what to say to him, though maybe it was because I usually bore people when I talk to them. Or maybe it was because I was too shy to even talk with our visitor. Ryu only took a deep breath and stepped outside into our back garden where he sat down next to our small Koi pond, and began to meditate. I followed him outside only to see those eyes of his closed. Not even the cold breeze blowing through us could distract him from his meditation._

_Time flew__ by, so I decided I should do the same thing. Besides, I learned that the best way a ninja could ever perform everything right with no errors was to calmly stay focus on what you are doing._

_I sat down__ across him, crossed my legs, closed my eyes and began to focus. But my mind wasn't really concentrating right now. Well, not on disciplining the mind, but on the Hayabusa ninja. I opened one eye to "peek" at what he was doing now. Still showed no sign of movement._

_A small gypsy moth flew above me, and began to make its way to circle around Ryu's head. After it got tired of flying around, the winged insect landed gently on Hayabusa's nose. He didn't even twitch it, or even knew that there was something on it. I giggled a little but then covered my mouth so I won't interrupt his focus. Another moth came and this time the insect had landed on his hair. I could not help myself but to laugh out loud at the scene I was watching right now. Of course, all the laughter that I had caused had disturbed Ryu's meditation. He uncovered his eyes; they widened. I though I frustrated him._

"_Is there something wrong?" he asked me._

"_No, __it is nothing." I replied back. He stood up on his feet. The moths were still all over his face. I laughed once more. "It's just that you look… well, hilarious with those things around you and you can't seem to feel them."_

_He shook his head. The moths flew away fr__om our sights. "A true ninja must never get distracted from their surroundings. Only should they listen to the silence of their calming mind. And because of your childish acts, you just ruined my peace. Don't do that again."_

_The joyfulness on my face had vanished. He did not sound angry, though he was strict. When someone tells me I had fouled up on something, I blame myself for not respecting them. I bowed my head in shame. "Forgive me. I did not mean to…" I looked up to look at him, but he wasn't there. A voice spoke from behind._

"_So, Hayate tells me you are the destined one." He must have used teleportation.__ I stood up and nodded. "You think you can prove that?" Ryu now turned into his own proper fighting stance. He wanted to fight me?! Here? Now? Doesn't he know that this is a garden where it should be safe from any cause of disaster? I looked around to see if no one was watching us. "Come on," he insisted. "I'll go easy on you."_

_I got a little disgruntled__ after hearing this. "Excuse me?!" I was already successful in my Mugen Tenshin studies in ninjutsu, and this guy wanted an easy battle with me? I got on my own fighting stance and replied, "Fine, I accept your challenge. And please do not go easy on me. I'm fully trained."_

"_Let's see about that.__" Ryu leaped in the sky and started coming down fast and fierce like an asteroid. He had a punch coming towards me, but I easily evaded it by jumping backwards. As he landed, he threw another punch at me, but responded quickly by ducking and hitting him in the face with a kick. Next, I punched him in the chest, while he was on the ground. However, I didn't expect Ryu grabbing my arm and throwing me. He got back on his feet, and began charging at me, then began to throw multiple punches in which I tried my best to block. When he tried to roundhouse kick me, I crouched and tripped him, a second time. I could have sworn I also heard glass shattering. Ryu stood up once more._

"_Clever…" he said. "But not clever enough." He vanished for a while, and then reappeared behind me, hitting me critically in the back with a swift kick. He might have weakened me a bit, but I stood strong and hit him back with a repeated kicking attack to his face right into the ground, again, only this time, he stuck out his legs high in the air, kicking my chin and tumbling me down. I got up as quickly as I could, but got knocked down again with a heavy punch in my stomach. I wasn't going to give up; I still needed to prove to this ninja that I am the one._

_Ryu assailed me once more; his speed combined with his tactful combination of hit movements had gotten me so tiresome and weak, I could barely block out the whole attack. With one last swift kick on the arm, he knocked me out, winning the match. I groaned a bit, but the pain wasn't as rough as it supposed to be. Ryu glanced at me with his__ green eyes sparkling like emerald; the light the full blue moon up in the dark sky had made them so lustrous. His left cheek showed a slight red bruise that I had given him during our fight. He let out his hand to pick me up; his strong grip lifted me up with no trouble. At last, he sat down the same position he was when he was meditating._

"_Impressive," he claimed. "Although I sense a lack of focus around you." I tilted my head as if I did not know what he meant by that. He kept going. "It means you don't seem to concentrate much on what you're doing. You are very skilled at your ninjutsu as you have shown, yet something distracts you as you try to fight your opponent." I agreed with him. Yes, it is true that my mind is somewhat wandering off in some other place besides of what I am doing right now. I should beat myself for committing that mindless flaw. "A ninja must clear everything in his or her mind before a battle and must meditate through absolute focus. That way, you have full attention on your opponent's wits and strategy to know whenever or not their attack is coming. Do you understand?"_

"_Yes.__" I sighed. It's incredible how a young man like he can talk as if he had the mind of an ancient wise elder. Having nothing else to do, I sat down next to Ryu. I got closer to him, and touched his small injury, I started rubbing it softly. "Are you hurt?" I began changing the subject._

"_I'm fine, thank you." Ry__u firmly slipped my hand away. We were quiet for a while. I cleared my throat, but he didn't seem to listen. Oh dear, I'm boring the guest. We had just fought and now we had nothing to do. I began to observe the sword on his back; it still had me enticed with curiosity, and I already knew that it was a special one._

"_May I see your sword, please?"__ I asked him. "Just for a brief moment." Without rejecting the statement, Ryu reached for his back, pulled the weapon out by the handle, and gave it to me in my hands. I glanced at it with awe._

"_It's the Dragon Sword," he started stating. "It is passed from generation to generation to the chosen sons of the Hayabusa clan. It is said that those who use it correctly will possess incredible strength within the weapon." Enough said. The sword was way more different than the type we had stored here. The carvings on the blade were almost made from metallic structures, although, according to Ryu, it is carved and hand made from the bones of an extinct, rare, "dragon." (Possibly some folktale or myth.) As I was about to take a swing at it, the Hayabusa ninja had snatched it from me, putting it back in place in its scabbard._

"_Don't even try. Hayabusa instincts don't run through you." He chuckled and rose. "The only thing you should be doing right now is practice on your meditation. That is all yo__u need to succeed in your dream-_

"…_of becoming the next leader of the Mugen Tenshin clan, yes," I finished the sentence._

_He located his hand on my shoulder. "You know? I have a good feeling you will become a great leader for this village of yours. And keep it up. Your ninjutsu skills are amazing."_

_Those words sounded so pleasing; __never have I gotten much compliment from someone distant. "Aw, thank you for the support Ryu," I thanked him. As soon as I finished talking, I opened my arms wide and clasped into the ninja. I don't know what was on my mind that time, but what I realized was that I actually hugged someone who I knew for not even one full day. I backed away from him, embarrassed at the small incident I caused. "S… sorry."_

_He didn't talk for a while. I think that surprising, unexpected __thing that I gave him must have left him speechless. I turned facing the other way, blushing. Ryu only began to meditate again. Guess he just unnoticed it. Shocking, I asked myself. He didn't respond to my excuse. By that time, I had left the guest alone and went in search for a broom, to sweep the "mess" we had made. The broken pieces of the vases were lying on the floor. As I cleaned, my eyes were glued to… my goodness! Why can't I stop looking at him? I shook my head a couple of times, and then looked down at the ground to prevent me from glimpsing at Ryu. But he was roaming in my own mind as well. Then, it hit me._

_After I finished cleaning, I decided to do the only one thing that Hayabusa ninja had ever told me to do to achieve full focus: meditation, to clear my mind out of nonsense, and to concentrate in order to have a clean, and silent mind. I slid the door open to my dormitory, and lit up a few candles around me. I then began the first step of meditation. Deep inside my head, the tame thunderstorm had washed away the entire disturbance and only concentrated on focusing._

_However, when I woke from my exercise, __the Super Ninja's face had not gotten out of my mind…_

Ryu returned home to his own village the next following day, though he wished me a Happy Birthday before he left. Ayane now studied a new ninjutsu art called Hajin Mon, under the supervision of her master and foster father, Master Genra. Hayate had accomplished everything in his agenda to succeed to the next level of ninjutsu Mugen Tenshin style. After this, he now becomes leader of the clan, which I was also aiming to go for. Great, I thought, here starts another sibling rivalry… But nothing ever mattered. Me… my family, my friends… their faces pictured on my head. They were all special to me. They all had a place in my heart. I began asking myself, this truly was paradise.

I thought nothing could ruin these happy moments. I was wrong…


End file.
